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Review: CITY OF THE LOST by Kelley Armstrong

CITY OF THE LOST
Kelley Armstrong
Published: January 14th 2016 by Sphere
Pages: 352

Casey Duncan once killed a man and got away with it. Since then she’s become a talented police detective, tethered only to her job, her best friend, Diana, and the occasional evening with her sexy, no-strings-attached ex-con lover, Kurt. But then Diana’s abusive ex finds her again, despite all Casey has done to help her disappear. And Casey’s own dark past begins to catch up with her. The two women need to run—and Diana’s heard of a place where they won’t be found, a town especially for people like them…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I killed a man.”

I loved this. I wasn’t expecting to love it so much since Armstrong’s work has been hit or miss for me, but I loved every thing about The City of the Lost. Even the gore-y parts. Okay, especially the gore-y parts.

Apparently The City of the Lost was an e-serial before it was a hardcover, which explains why the book was divided into six parts. It meant it took me a little while longer to read it, but the way it was broken down took absolutely nothing away from the story.

Casey Duncan and her friend Diana wanted to run away from their pasts and disappear, and after hearing about a town where people go to to never be heard from again, they set out to make that place their new home. I loved the concept of a town that embraced people who just wanted to run away from their problems (some bigger and messier than others), no matter how unbelievable it seemed at times. It wasn’t just anyone, though. There was an interview and people got voted in or out depending on what they could bring to the table to help out the community. Never mind that some of the people who got voted in were murderers.

The main character, Casey, was one of those people. She killed someone when she was eighteen and managed to get away with it, or so she thought. The past has a way of coming back to bite people in the butt, which was why Casey found herself agreeing to flee with Diana, who was running away from a violent and abusive ex-boyfriend, when she brought up the idea to leave. Casey was accepted because of her experience in law enforcement and was hired to be the town’s detective and keep everyone safe.

And that was when things got messed up in the best way possible.

To say this book was creepy would be an understatement. I was delighted by the eerie atmosphere the author created, especially once Casey arrived in Rockton. I don’t want to give too much away, but Casey was roped into a mystery as soon as she arrived, something that had me on the edge of my seat as I read about her getting used to her new home and trying to solve and fight against something that threatened to ruin the peace for her and Diana.

Little by little we were shown that Rockton was not as great of a town as it seemed. During a few passages I actually thought maybe staying where Casey and Diana were or leaving for another city would have been better than moving to that town. It was like a closed community run by rich people (who I’m pretty sure were/still are criminals) who expected blind obedience by anyone who worked to ensure the town didn’t disappear. Sounds super shady, huh?

All of that only made things more interesting as I kept reading, and it was all helped by the fact that Casey was a great character. She was strong and fierce and layered, and she felt very real to me. The side-characters were also great additions, each with their own depth and stories that enriched this one. Eric in particular was a favorite of mine, especially when he started babbling.

And the plot twists! They kept on coming and I was surprised for every single one of them. They left me gaping at my Kindle in complete shock. The ending felt just a little bit rushed, but maybe I was just sad because there wasn’t more for me to read. Because I loved this. I really loved this. A lot. And I can’t wait for the next installment!

This review ended up being so long, oh my god.
But TL;DR this book was amazing and you should read it!